Seven things left undone
by Marinaa.8
Summary: When they lose one of the guild members Fairy Tail is left in sadness. But when someone who looks exactly the same comes to the guild 14 months later. What happens then? Is it the same person? Or just a void? A doppelgänger? And why is the person back? What does it need? /Slow burn NaLu/
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or characters. I solely own the idea and type work._

* * *

**SEVEN THINGS LEFT UNDONE  
**

_Chapter 1_

* * *

The mission was supposed to be easy. Well not exactly easy, it was an A rank mission, but still it was not as difficult as defeating the enemies in Edolas. Which is why nobody could believe it had happened. It was just a grab and run mission.

\/\/

Team Natsu had decided to go on a mission. After the big 'Fairy tail returned from Edolas' party of course.

Natsu had picked the mission. Which is why he got a massive quilt complex afterwards. But at that time he was jumping with excitement in front of Lucy, Gray and Erza. Happy flying in an erratic manner just above his shoulder. Pushing the mission paper in his friends faces he started planning how to handle it with Happy. Of course their plans weren't really great, they involved too much fish.

At the same time Erza read the mission paper out loud. "Please help. My son has been kidnapped by a gang of notorious fighters. They are known for their harsh fighting techniques and tactics. Reward: 100.000 bells. Rank: A."

The gang just needed to look at each other to know that they were going to accept this mission.

Two hours later they were sitting in the train. Just happily chatting. Or knocking out people with motion sickness. Either way, they had fun.

"Who are the members of this notorious gang?" Lucy had asked after awhile. "I never heard of them."

"Yeah me neither." Gray said.

"I've heard of them. They're not really famous, yet, but I saw them in the S-class book." Erza answered while petting the unconscious Natsu's head.

"S-class book?"

" It's a book with al the high rank criminals, Lucy. Not only the S-rank but also A-rank and B-rank." After a nod from Lucy, Erza continued. "From what I know this gang consist of four members, I don't know their names but I do know their magical powers. One is an earth mages, the second has magical fire, the third uses puppets and the last, who is also the boss, is an requip mage."

"Hmmm..." Lucy's brains started to think of all kinds of different attack plans. But she never voiced them. Maybe she should have done that.

\/\/

"Pfft... cranky old man." Natsu grumbled once they walked out of the meeting with the father. Unaware of Erza's fist that would hit him in the head in less than two seconds. "Aggrk."

"Don't insult our money giver. Let's just find his son and bring him back. The sooner the better."

"Yeah, because his son deserved to rescued." Gray mumbled. After a menacing 'Gray' from Erza he soon followed with. "Come on. From what I hear his son is always inside. Is a complete prat and let him self be kidnapped. I mean have you heard the maids statement. She said that 'little master' would go with them as long as they don't hurt him. He just walked out of the door with them."

"Gray. Let's just go save him? This mission was supposed to be celebrations not a grumbling match between you and Natsu." Lucy spoke soothingly to him.

Even though Natsu and Gray huffed some more about the mission with the stupid prat, they went on the mission. Found the gang quick and started fighting.

\/\/

And that's where it went wrong, the fight. As soon as they started everybody went into their role.

Natsu was, of course, attacking the boss. Using his flames the melt some of requiped weapons and if that dind't work just attacking the wielder of those weapons. The forest around him disapeared into flames piece by piece.

Erza took care of the flame mage. She requiped to a flame resistant armour and defeated the mage. It didn't take long for that batlle to end. Afterwards she jumped in to help Gray. He was busy trying to defeat the puppeteer. Who was harder then expected. Every time they thought they had defeated him it was a puppet. And at some point they were surrounded by 15 puppets. And don't get it wrong, those puppets were weak. Gray and Erza could defeat every single puppet in one hit. But for every slain puppet two came back. Besides that the puppets kept attacking, every single second, and some of them kept shooting arrows.

Meanwhile Lucy had jumped in front of the rich kid to protect him. The earth mage wasn't that hard to defeat. She summoned Cancer and Scorpio. They fought with the mage together. And when the earth mage fell down to the ground she summoned Scorpio back. Cancer staying behind with her just in case.

Meanwhile she could she that Gray and Erza where in trouble. The blonde desperately wanted to help. But she decided against going. If she went the kid would stay behind with no protection, she couldn't let that happen. So she sent Loke.

\/\/

"What are you doing here?" Gray yelled over the fighting sounds. He was getting tired rapidly from all the dodges he had to make for the arrows. So if Loke came to help him and Erza, who looked more and more angry every passing minute, he would be truly thankful.

"Lucy has defeated her enemy but stayed behind to protect the boy. She sent me to help you guys." yelled the stellar spirit back, he already started fighting some of the puppets.

After some time Erza yelled, "I noticed one of the puppets doesn't shoot arrows. It's the one behind Loke. He must be the real mage."

Immediately afterwards Gray and Leo jumped to attack him. Gray hitting him in the back with his ice make sword and Leo hitting him in the front with regulus.

And Erza she attacked the real mage. Yelling to Gray and Leo who to attack had been a distraction. She could not take the chance to yell who really was the real one so she used this technique.

Now that the real mage was defeated the puppets didn't spawn continuously so defeating them was easy.

Just when they were finished with killing the last one a look of horror washed over Loke's face.

"I feel a pull."

"A pull? What do you mean a pull?" Erza came in action immediately.

"Lucy... she's in trouble. Her magic power isn't strong enough too keep me here. You nee-" Before he could finish his sentence he started to glow gold and was gone.

Gray and Erza didn't even need too look at each other to know. They just ran to Lucy.

\/\/

The fight with Moku, or so the boss was called, left Natsu quite a distance away from the others. But he didn't worry. He just ran through the forest, at least if you counted it as running. It seemed more like limping to Happy. But Natsu reacted to that statement with vigor:

"I am _not_ limping. That guy can't make me limp from one measly leg wound."

So now they were just walking, limping, in a companionable silence. When the sound came.

The sound that Natsu would always remember. Always hear in his dreams. The sound that would always be around him.

Lucy screamed. It was only thanks to his enhanced hearings that Natsu could hear it.

It was not a scream for help. It was a scream of pain. Of defeat.

His instincts kicked in. He started running. Ignoring the twinge in his leg.

\/\/

After sending Leo away Lucy kneed in front of the rich kid.

"Hey. I'm Lucy. What's your name?" She gave him a sweet smile.

"Jacues." The boy said. Sniffling but loosend the grip on his legs.

"All right Jacues. Me and my friends are going to bring you back to your daddy and your house."

Lucy sat down next to him. Still tightly strung from her battle but also to able to jump into action immediately.

Her batlle with the earth mage left her magic reserves very low. Summoning two spirits was a heavy load on her reserves. And summoning Leo too after that didn't make it much better. So she took the opportunity to let her reserves restore a little.

"Cancer. Can you keep watch?"

"Yes-ebi."

"Thank you." And with that she closed her eyes. Reaching out for Jacues hand and grabbing it. Giving support until her friends arrival.

And that's the moment were the wrong action played out. Maybe it already went wrong when Natsu chose the mission. Maybe it already went wrong when Lucy didn't voice her attack plans. Maybe it went wrong when they were fighting. Maybe they could've giving Lucy more support. Maybe it went wrong at the moment Lucy falsely believed her enemy was defeated. But it certainly went wrong at this moment.

In front of Lucy the earth mage rose again. Clutching his side. Cancer spotted him. He directly formed a attack to keep the mage away from his master.

"Lucy-san! He's awake-ebi." His attack hit full in the face. "My powers are weak-ebi. I must return soon-ebi."

As the first words of Cancer hit Lucy's ears she jumped up. All ready standing in fighting position and ready to protect the little boy behind her.

"Stay behind me." She needs to take a slow and deliberate breath after that. Her magic reserves are low. Her muscles sore. And she is over all tired. But Lucy knows that she has to hold on for just a little longer. Just until her friends reach her and Jacues.

With one hit of the earth mage Cancer disappears in a sea of gold light.

Thinking fast Lucy summons Aquarius. Put she can already feel the twinge. Her magic reserves are too low. She knows she won't be able to hold Aquarius outside the spirit realm for long.

"Aquarius! Do it fast!" And at that sign Aqaurius unbleached a fountain of water on top of the earth mage. It hits hard. But not before the earth mage can make a sword out of stone, a sharp sword, and send it in the direction of Jacues and Lucy.

At the same time Lucy can feel her body go numb from the lack of magic power. When Aquarius returns to her realm bade in golden light Lucy is unable to see the sword coming for her.

They scream she produces when the swords pierces her belly is not for help. It's thanks to shock and pain. Unbelievable pain. It feels like somebody is tearing at her from the inside. But in a flash the pain is gone. Leaving her body numb once again.

When she looks down she can see the sword protruding out of her belly. The blonde knows it's not sticking far out of her back. When she falls down to her knees she can hear her friends. They are running for her. Rushing through the trees and bushes. The only thing going through her mind is that she can hear the rustling of leaves and singing of birds so clearly. So pure and perfect. Only ruined by the stickiness of blood on her skin.

"Lucy!" roars Natsu. He runs to her side and catches her when she falls. Laying her down on her back. Her head on his knees.

"Lucy? Lucy. Come on stay with me." He pleads. The chocolate brown eyes slowly focus on him, then move to Erza and Gray. Who stand as stone, looking at the picture in front of them. The blonde tries to convey the words that can't come out of her mouth through her eyes.

Before her eyes fall close she looks at Natsu once more. Her mouth silently forming his name. And thanks to his dragon slayer magic he can hear his name falling from her mouth in a soft whisper. Never had he hated his magic powers more as on that day.

Not long after the chocolate colour disappears her lungs stop working. Her body going silent and still.

"NO! No, no, no, you can't! Lucy. Wake up Luce. It's not funny."

Erza and Gray can only watch how Natsu goes into a panic. Shaking Lucy lightly to wake her. Behind him Happy silently repeats Lucy's name like a chant.

The death of their friend, of their family, is not yet fully dawning on them.

The tears come as a surprise to all of them. Suddenly they start rolling down on their cheeks. Falling down on the forest floor. On musk and leaves. Leaving tears stains behind.

But also falling down on the rosy cheeks of their blonde friend. Making it look like she cries with them too.

It's Erza who silently gets everybody into action. Who makes Natsu stop roaring for Lucy to come back. Who makes Gray come back to earth, because he's not the one who went away from it. It's her who takes over Lucy's job in protecting the little boy.

It's Gray who rounds the gang members op. Who ties a knot around them. Who dumps the members at a nearby guild.

It's Natsu who doesn't stop holding Lucy. Not until they're at a village. Not until they can get her body in a coffin to transport her to the guild. And still then he stays with in ten feet of her body.

The finishing of the mission is silent and within two hours.

The journey back is loaded and silent. Erza talking just once, to make a lacrima call to Mirajane. After that the lapse in silence.

\/\/

Mirajane had been expecting the call from Erza. About how the mission went. And when they would be back.

What she didn't expect happened. She got the call all right but with news of Lucy's dead. She can still remember how the call went.

"Erza! How did the mission go?" She remembers seeing a defeated look on Erza's face. A look Erza never had.

"Mirajane. Something went wrong." After saying that Erza closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

"What's wrong? Is .. is everybody all right?" Mirajane remembers they fears pulsing through her veins. The way it pumped through her with every heart beat.

Apparently Levy had heard her lacrima conversation and made the guild go quiet.

"It's Lucy. We..." Before being able to say the next words Erza jaw tightened. "We. We lost her."

Gulping Mirajane said what she knew was wrong, inside her she already knew it wasn't that definition of lost: "Where? Are you looking for her now?" They fear started pulsing through the guild right now. It was dead silent. Everybody knew what lost could also mean.

"She is gone. Not with us any more." Erza let the words sink in with everybody before continuing. "We are, eh, taking her body to the guild. We arrive tomorrow at ten o'clock."

The call ended after that.

And sadness was in the normally happy guild. Master Makarov, who watched the exchange from the top of the stairs, came down and got a lemonade. In honour of their friend and nakama.

The pulse of fear changed in a pulse of sadness. Of despair. Of loss.

That night, and following week, everybody lived at the guild. Never leaving. Seeking comfort for their sadness with others.

Except Natsu and Happy who would go to Lucy's house every night to sleep in her bed.

**TBC**

* * *

_AN: I'm sorry! It's just this story has been in my head for so long that I had to write it out. I'm awfully sorry. But I sincerely hope you stay for the next chapter. That I didn't scare you away with this loss. This just needed to happen before I could start what I have planned.  
__English is not my mother language, so I apologize for the grammar mistakes and bad English as a whole.  
_

_I'm going to try and write the next chapter next week, but I can't promise anything because school is starting again. I already planned what to do.  
_

_Please review, criticism is always welcome.  
_

_AN 2: Has anybody read the last chapter of FT ( of course you guys have.). It was awesome._


	2. Chapter 2

**Seven things left undone**

_Chapter 2_

* * *

It had been 14 months since Lucy died. Well actually almost 15 months. Just two weeks and then she would have been gone for 15 months. Natsu knew this because he counted everyday that went past without her by his side.

It had been almost 8 months since the guild got over their loss. At least so everyone claimed. But in all actuality nobody accepted it. Wanted to believe it. Could live happily with it. But they tried. Levy had opened all eyes from the darkness 8 months ago.

"Lu-chan. She's gone. I know. Everybody knows. But she wouldn't have wanted us to live like this. She wouldn't..." Her voice broke before she could finish what she wanted to say. A lump forming in her throat and tears in her eyes. But the message was delivered.

Since then the guild was 'happy' again. Not the same as before the incident. There would always be a Lucy shaped hole, but all the guild members tried to fill the gaping hole with the happy memories of her.

And so did her team-mates. Filling the hole as much as possible, but it was never nearly enough. She still was a official member of team Natsu (Natsu had thrown a tantrum when someone suggested it to be changed.). But the loss was great. The teamwork had been rusty without Lucy to oil it up.

But in the end they over came the death of one of their closest friends. Team Natsu did jobs again. Mirajane smiled again when serving people. Levy read romantic novels again. Cana drank again. And the rest of the guild? They laughed, drank, loved, fighted and broke stuff again. Everybody picked up life again. In memory of Lucy.

But there would always be a Lucy shaped hole in their hearts. And there would always be one empty barstool. The stool were the blond mage always drank her lemonade, while reading her book, on was always empty.

\/\/

Her death hit Natsu the hardest. First Lisanna and then Lucy. Really, could life be this cruel?

After her burial Natsu kept getting into fights with everyone. At some point he angered both Mirajane and Erza at the same time. Making the two strongest women of Fairy Tail team up. The fight was short. The winner was clear even before it started. But it somehow learned him something. Nobody knows exactly what only that after that particular fight Natsu stopped with angering people on purpose.

He got over his fighting phase but ended up in a slightly depressed phase. He couldn't bring himself up to gather the pieces of his old life. Not with the biggest piece missing, forever unfindable.

The missions kept going wrong because the team worked was gone. Just gone. Natsu, Happy, Gray and Erza just fought for themselves instead of working as one.

Happy didn't act like his name. He got slightly depressed. Over the year Lucy was with them he came to see Lucy as a sort of mother. She _was_ always there for him.

And Natsu? he couldn't handle any of it. At some point he was just gone, he left. Even Happy didn't know where he was. But none of the guild members wanted to look for him. After his continuous fighting and his grumpiness they were kind of glad he was gone. And Erza thought he just needed some time for himself.

Two months later he came back. Seven months after she died. He only said he went back to the place Igneel trained him. Nobody said anything about it.

In this month he became more like himself again. Picking small fights with Gray again. Going on adventures with Happy again.

Immediately after he got back he took Happy fishing in the town where they met the stellar mage. Nobody knows what exactly went down on that particular trip but both Happy and Natsu seemed happier. Like they got a big load of their shoulders.

They both still missed Lucy. Just like they both missed Lisanna when she was gone. But this was different. How hard in might seem in front of Lisanna, they missed Lucy more. If that is because in the past year with Lucy a lot happened. Or because they were older now. It just is. Sometimes it is better to be left in the dark.

After Levy's words Natsu gathered the team together. Together they made new plans, a whole new battle lay out. They became even more tight knit.

Natsu and Gray becoming even more like brothers, still fighting but always understanding the other with just one glance. Their fights still destroyed the whole guild and the only one who could stop them was Erza or Makarov(but he didn't even bother).

Erza became even more like a sister to them. She was always there for them. But she was still harsh, hitting them for a lot of things. And not a slight slap. Full out hitting them.

In the end they got closer. But at what cost?

\/\/

After the death of her Lu-chan Levy was devastated. For a long time she refused to read any romantic novels, Lucy's favourite books. It just made her think of all those times with Lucy. All those time Lu-chan told her about the dates she went on, all of them which were rubbish.

Levy got such good friends with the blonde mage in such a short time. They just clicked. It was just there. When Lucy first stepped through the door Levy might have been really happy to see a girl from her age in the guild. All the other girls were older or more grown up. And she just wanted a 'Best friend. Not that it wasn't fun with the boys. But it's different, she couldn't talk about boys and books with them. She could with Lucy.

They loss was heavy. Now she had no-one to talk to about those things. She closed off. Talking to nobody. Only saying necessary words to the other two members of Shadow Gear and Mirajane.

She immersed in her books. Only reading, reading and reading. Only reading horror stories. Lucy hated them.

Untill Gajeel came along and picked up her pieces. With careful precision he placed them back. It took him quite a long time to get her saying but just one word to him, but he took his time. Slowly helping her back together.

Taking her out on dates. Not romantic dates. Dates to places Levy visited with Lucy. Places she had good memories of, memories that were drenched in darkness now. But the iron dragon slayer helped her shed light on the memories by talking.

He make her talk about the memories for hours. And after every trip he would hold her while she cried. He would hold her when she cried.

The goodbye of Lucy was long and painfull. But thanks to Gajeel, Levy came through it. And somewhere along the lines, when all her pieces were back in place, he became more to her. The dates became more romantic and less and less about memories of the stellar mage. The blonde wasn't forgetting, Levy was just giving the loss a place.

And now almost 15 months later she and Gajeel had been dating for almost 6 months. She had started reading romantic novels, starting with reading Lucy's shelves.

She gave her grief a place. There was still a hole but she filled it up with memories of Lu-chan and Gajeel's love and care.

\/\/

The guild still griefs about their loss, but now they do so by being their boisterous selfs again. Everybody stills thinks about her, but less. People start to move on. They start to use the past as bricks to build on. They learn from it.

That's why what happened two weeks later was such a shock. That's why it made everybody angry. They just moved on before being harshly reminded of it again.

* * *

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Seven things left undone**

_Chapter 3_

* * *

The last 7 days had passed so very slow. Especially for Team Natsu.

The master forbade them from going on missions out of Magnolia. The reason for that was fairly simple. They blowed up a forest and a factory on their last mission. Naturally, that didn't went overly well with the master and the magic court.

Since then they had bean on small missions and jobs. Like painting fence on Monday. Which, naturally, bored Natsu and Gray out of their minds. Resulting in two boys with paint all over their bodies. And a furious Erza.

The next job wasn't much better. The got a two day long mission appointed, Mirajane made them do the job. Apparently it wasn't much fun.

They came back a day later. Nobody heard them speak about the mission. Nobody knew what they had done on the mission. The only thing they heard about it was Natsu's muttered words: "Mad. That they were. Never, never again."

That Thursday Erza called a rest day. Nothing special happened on Friday and Saturday. But then Sunday came around.

\/\/

It had to be around six thirty in the morning when a cloaked figure arrived in Magnolia. The figure seemed calm. Walking slowly to the centre of town.

Nothing could be seen of this person except a cloak. And just a glimmer of rosy pink lips underneath the hood. More was hidden out of sight be the grubby gray cloak. It sported various cuts and stains on the underside.

The figure kept on walking through town. Her brown leather boats visible with every step taken. The figure didn't look around in town. Didn't watch the streets to see where to go, apparently knew a route by heart.

\/\/

Natsu and Happy woke up at five o'clock in the morning. Exactly on time for their morning run around Magnolia. They have been doing that since forever.

Directly after they both woke up they would run through town, well Natsu would run while Happy flew. The run ended at the guild. Here they would buy some breakfast.

At half six they arrived at the guild. All sweaty and red faced. Mirajane already put their meals on the bars. A roasted fish for Happy. Cereal with milk and pancakes to the side for Natsu.

Both directly started eating. A "Thanks Mira" comes out of their stuffed mouth.

In three minutes their plates are clean. Food all gone.

"Mira-chan! Seconds"

"Coming right to you Natsu, just 10 minutes for the pancakes."

The guild is filling up by now. Slowly people are drifting in to the big oak doors.

"Already stuffing your face I see." Gray says when he sits down beside Natsu. "Mira! A egg and bacon for me, please."

"Sure thing Gray!" Now that the people were coming in. 'Business is booming.' Or so you can say.

"Already irritating me I see." Natsu snapped back.

"At least I don't have syrup on my face."

"Well, me neither."

"Ah. Natsu you have." Happy piped up. Pointing to the pink haired boy's face. "Ahahaha. It looks really funny." Now he was rolling over the bar.

"What?!" Indignantly Natsu brought his hand to his face. "Where?" His hands are going all over his face now. Smearing syrup everywhere.

"You're only making it worst!" Gray sputters out between laughing.

And then suddenly there is clean white towel in front of Natsu's face. Or more like in his face. "Clean up." Erza pushed the towel against his face. Of course this motherly treatment didn't go really well with Natsu. His hands reach up to grab the towel, slapping Erza's arms away.

"I can do it myself ya know. Not stupid." He swept the towel over his face. Grumbling a bit under his breath. "See done." He throwed the towel behind the bar. Right when Mirajane brought their food.

While setting down their plates she said, in respective order "Natsu, Happy, Gray and I took the liberty of preparing your breakfast Erza." After making sure the gang started digging in she turned around to serve Cana, who just stumbled in with an amazing bed head. "Long night dear?" Cana just nodded. Grubbing her head with her hand. Making her hair even worse.

Meanwhile the three were eating their (second) breakfast. Even Natsu was eating calmly now.

It was five minutes before seven. Five minutes until it happened.

\/\/

The cloaked person finally arrived at the place it wanted to be. The building was huge. The doors impressive, made of oak and full on intricate designs. They looked heavy to push. But when the figure tried too push the door it was really easy. Easier then expected. The figure pushed harder then needed, the doors slammed open. Not hard enough to slam against the walls, but hard enough to make the whole guild turn around.

Natsu flying around with a big bite of pancake still in his mouth.

All these faces were looking at here the figure. Staring. Doing a once over but not recognizing the body. But all thinking that this person was very dubious. Wearing such a greasy cloth and showing nothing of it's body.

Of course it was Mirajane who snapped out of confusion first. "Hello, welcome to Fairy Tail. Did you want to request help." A minute shake of the head as no made everybody look weirdly at their visitor. There was almost never a visitor if not family, friends or job requesters.

Erza spoke up next. "Do you want to become a member, then?" Another shake of the head.

Natsu, always easily aggravated, was getting red faced by now. "Why are you here then?!" No shake of the head this time. This time the person moved his head to look straight at Natsu. Well, at least that's what you would think, the cap masked where he pointed his eyes at.

The person took two single steps forward. Slowly reached up, a female body became visible. She pulled the cap of like a plaster. Immediately pulling it off. Her locks cascaded down on her shoulders. And a soft voice spoke.

"I just- I just needed to see you guys one more time."

The whole guild was quiet. You could hear a needle drop on the ground. Hands came up to cover mouths. The happy Sunday morning smiling faces where replaced with faces masked by confusion and frowns.

And through the whole ordeal she kept looking at Natsu.

The clocks of Magnolia church rang, 7 o'clock.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

AN: Sorry for the long wait. And short chapters. I will try to update faster next time. Not Beta'd so all mistakes are my own.

Yeah, I know I know, a big cliffy. But you probably can all ready guess who it is, can't you? In the next chapters the real story arc will start. I hope you're looking forward to it.

Anybody read the last chapters? I'm so curious about what is going to happen next.


End file.
